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WAYNESBORO, VA (Rocktown Now) — The Wayne Theatre presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella opening Friday, August 15, 2025 at 7:00 PM. The theatre held a press showcase on Thursday, August 7, 2025 to present several scenes for the public to get a sneak peek into the show.
Directed by Wayne Theatre Artistic Director Lesley Larsen, Cinderella is the first show in the Wayne Theatre’s 2025-2026 ERAS season in the “Enchanted Era.” The story follows the classic tale of Cinderella with a contemporary take.
According to Larsen, the “Enchanted Era” is to find ways to enchant the audience as well as the theater community with their show.
“What that means for us is it provides a new challenge for us to approach a show in a different way than we might ordinarily do,” said Larsen. “So, with the Enchanted era we are really looking forward to finding ways to create the magic on stage in a different way. A way that is unique to any production that we’ve seen as Cinderella.”
Larsen decided on this adaptation of Cinderella as the first show because it is a title that is recognizable for the community and features a multi-generational cast with actors who are as young as 9-10 years old and actors who are close to their 50’s.
“I wanted us to find a show that would bring a huge group of people together,” said Larsen. “This is the largest cast we’ve had on the Wayne stage. We have 54 actors, add to that about 10 crew working behind the scenes.”
Several scenes are featured in the woods, surrounded by trees, flowers and animals played by some of the younger actors. Larsen said when she was reading the show, she kept thinking, “magic is all around you.” She found for her, magic exists in the forest, a classic location for a fairytale.
“So I’m working with our set builder, Josh Donahue, I really wanted to make sure that it looked like a group of royals found this fabulous forest and said, ‘you know, why not? Why don’t we set up a castle in the middle of the forest?'”
Merab Yeomans, who has performed with the Wayne Theatre in the past, plays Ella.
“I think something that I truly have learned and adore about Ella is that she’s always looking for the good in people, even when they show their ugly, very openly, and they probably don’t deserve it,” said Yeomans. “I admire that about her and that’s a trait I think I would love to adopt.”
The story of Cinderella has had several adaptation. Yeomans said she had only watched the 1950 Disney adaption of Cinderella, but went into the show with a clean slate.
“I’ve been able to just see the lines for the lines and see the plot for the plot,” said Yeomans. “There’s a lot of layers to this version of Cinderella. There are some political things with what’s going on in the kingdom and Ella has a friend named Jean Michel, who’s a supporting character that’s introduced that is, I don’t think, in any of the other versions.”
One scene presented during the showcase was “A Lovely Night”, where Ella, her stepmother and her step-sisters reminisce on the ball. Yeomans said the scene could be a crowd favorite.
“It’s such a fun scene to do and it’s goofy and we’re talking about boys,” said Yeomans. “It’s just frilly and fun and laughter.”
Larsen said Cinderella is an excellent first show, especially if you have children who has never seen a live theater performance.
“It’s got action and fighting a giant, it’s got silliness, it’s got a little bit of romance, it’s got beautiful singing, excellent storytelling, it’s a perfect first show,” said Larsen. “It’s also a great show for families of all ages.”
Yeomans contributes to that by saying that it is a great way to spend an evening or a matinee.
“There are so many meanings behind Cinderella specifically, but I think the one I would hope people would take away is just that even when life gets hard and it feels like there’s no good anywhere, you can always find it,” said Yeomans. “And I wouldn’t want to live my life any differently than that.”
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella opens on Friday, August 15, 2025 at 7 PM and runs through Sunday, August 24, 2025.
For more information on tickets and showtimes, visit Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella – Wayne Theatre | Waynesboro, VA or call the Wayne Theatre at 540-943-9999.